Siri IagnemmaI’ve always loved summer. When I was younger, the first days of summer meant the end of homework, pop quizzes, and stifling classrooms, and the beginning of lazy days at Walden Pond and cool evening walks to Moozy’s or Payson Park. Summer was a long, carefree dream of sunscreen and chocolate ice cream; grilled cheeseburgers, and the smell of freshly cut grass.
And then, I entered high school. Suddenly, summer afternoons weren’t solely a time for relaxation; they contained a nagging sense that I should be doing something. It wasn’t enough to work hard during the school year in the hopes of building an academic profile that would interest the right colleges; that same low-key pressure now dragged into summer.
The combination of an increasingly competitive college admission process and living in an academically focused area like Belmont has added newfound stress to what used to be a stress-free few months. My parents have told me stories about summers as high schoolers in the 1980s, where their entire existence seemed to revolve around bagging groceries, watching MTV, and achieving the darkest tan possible.
That’s not to say that students’ summers aren’t populated by full or part-time work; many students lack the opportunity to take costly and time-consuming summer courses. However, for some high schoolers, summer is an extension of the academic calendar: several of my Belmont High classmates are joining science camps at MIT, while others are enrolled in pre-college programs at nearby universities. While summer classes can be fun — after all, they’re a chance to meet new people, and they’re not quite as intense as regular school courses — the year-round pressure to excel makes summer feel less like, well, summer.
Does it have to be this way? I asked Paul Pitts, my guidance counselor at Belmont High, how students should think about balancing fun and achievement in summer.
“If your main goal is to improve yourself, that can be done in many different ways, through college courses and learning, using Duolingo to learn a new language, or doing community service work. It’s not the same size shoe for every student,” he said.
Mr. Pitts also emphasized to me that relaxation is a necessary part of summer and that too much focus on resume-building can be a negative: “You want to be competitive, you want to show your best self, but what’s the use of all of it if you’re not going to be happy?”
Last summer, I balanced trips to the beach with an online sociology course and afternoon shifts as a dishwasher in a restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard. It was a great combination of fun, study, and mindless relaxation. This summer looks like it will be much the same.
Many of my friends and classmates are taking up familiar summer activities like working at Rancatore’s in Belmont Center, traveling to Cape Cod, or volunteering at Belmont Day’s summer camp to find their combination of fun and focus.
It’s a paradox: we spend the school year waiting for summer, and by the time it rolls around, we miss the familiar routine of school. We miss going to clubs with friends, to fall football or volleyball games, and to noisy pep rallies. We even — once in a while — miss the workload.
No matter what your schedule looks like, summer is a time for lasting memories, so don’t forget to enjoy it.
Siri Iagnemma writes about Gen Z for The Belmont Voice. She is wrapping up her sophomore year at Belmont High School.